Tra le figure più importanti del dibattito filosofico italiano del Novecento, Antonio Banfi ha svolto nell'Italia del secondo dopoguerra anche un ruolo politico di rilievo come senatore del PCI. La sua interpretazione del marxismo ha presentato una forte accentuazione umanistica. Tra i suoi scolari filosofi e storici della filosofia come Giulio Preti, Enzo Paci, Remo Cantoni, Paolo Rossi. Il saggio prende in esame la prima fase della riflessione filosofica di Banfi, nella quale ha una importanza decisiva la conoscenza diretta del (...) dibattito tedesco tra le due guerre mondiali, in primo luogo della fenomenologia di Husserl e della ontologia di N. Hartmann. I Principi di una teoria della ragione - libro apparso alla fine degli anni '20 - e poi una serie di incisivi saggi degli anni '30 documentano una conoscenza approfondita e critica di un dibattito di cui mostrerà di nutrirsi in misura decisiva l'interpretazione di Banfi non solo di Hegel, ma anche di Marx. Among the leading philosophers in Italy during the 20th century, Antonio Banfi played an important role not only in the cultural debate during the 1930s and the 1940s, but also in the political scene of post-war Italy, advocating - as a representative of the Italian Communist Party in Italian Senate - a liberal, humanist view of Marxism. Among his students were influential philosophers and historians of philosophy such as Giulio Preti, Enzo Paci, Remo Cantoni and Paolo Rossi. This paper investigates the first phase of Banfi's philosophical development, an analysis of which must include a scrutiny of Banfi's deep indebtedness to German debate between the two World Wars, primarily Husserl's phenomenology and Hartmann's critical ontology. Banfi's phenomenological apprenticeship at the school of Husserl, and the sensitive and critical attitude of his presentation of the German debate in his Principi di una teoria della ragione, are of substantial importance in nourishing his later interpretation of Hegel and Marx. (shrink)

Proust’s indebtedness to Maeterlinck’s work has to be regarded as a true commonplace. Scholars were able to collect a huge amount of Proust’s loci (not only in the Recherche) where it is easy to meet with the sound echo of Maeterlinck’s pieces and poems. An additional number of hidden references to Maeterlinck was detected in Proust (and in this case mostly in the Recherche) by scholars working about the cultural context underlying the genesis of Proust’s novel. The philosophical side of (...) Proust’s indebtedness to Maeterlinck, however, didn’t until now undergo a careful scrutiny. Through a comparative analysis of the relevant chapters of Maeterlinck Le Temple enseveli and of the last pages of the concluding section (Le Temps retrouvé) of the Recherche, the paper aims to show how such a scrutiny seems to be unavoidable and highly fruitful, in order to clarify Proust’s ideas concerning not only time and memory, but – and above all – Self and moral life. (shrink)

Di un concetto come quello di morfologia viene fatto ampio uso in molti rami dell’indagine scientifica, là dove a esso si fa ricorso per indicare le strutture e i sottostanti processi di formazione che ne costituiscono l’oggetto di studio. Come tale, il concetto assume un significato di ordine generale, che fa sì che a esso si ricorra anche in contesti non strettamente scientifici e dunque con una valenza eminentemente metaforica. Senza tema di esagerazione, si potrebbe anzi affermare che il...

Proust’s indebtedness to Maeterlinck’s work has to be regarded as a true commonplace. Scholars were able to collect a huge amount of Proust’s loci (not only in the Recherche) where it is easy to meet with the sound echo of Maeterlinck’s pieces and poems. An additional number of hidden references to Maeterlinck was detected in Proust (and in this case mostly in the Recherche) by scholars working about the cultural context underlying the genesis of Proust’s novel. The philosophical side of (...) Proust’s indebtedness to Maeterlinck, however, didn’t until now undergo a careful scrutiny. Through a comparative analysis of the relevant chapters of Maeterlinck Le Temple enseveli and of the last pages of the concluding section (Le Temps retrouvé) of the Recherche, the paper aims to show how such a scrutiny seems to be unavoidable and highly fruitful, in order to clarify Proust’s ideas concerning not only time and memory, but – and above all – Self and moral life. (shrink)

Trata-se de uma investigação histórica da neurologia alemã das primeiras décadas do século XIX, representada por Burdach e Carus, e da rela- ção que manteve com pressupostos românticos de abordagem biológica. Carus acentua a necessidade de pesquisar o cérebro pelo viés anatômico e o considera um organismo total, atestando a influência do filósofo Schelling. Burdach, por seu lado, investiga a estrutura cerebral em conexão com a sensibilidade e o processo evolutivo.

Como se deduce por el subtítulo, esta reflexión no se ocupa de la relación entre la utopía, mística y revolución desde un punto de vista general. Entre los tres conceptos – cada uno de los cuales ha sido tratado por una literatura infinita- los nexos siguen estando muy vinculados y en absoluto casuales. Dichos vínculos han sido estudiados muy ampliamente, remontándose a la historia de las ideas filosóficas, teológicas y políticas. Sin embargo, me voy a enfocar en nuestra época y (...) en un momento muy peculiar y importante de la historia de Europa. Voy a examinar algunos aspectos de la relación entre la utopía, la mística y la revolución en la Alemania de los primeras dos décadas del siglo XX. Para esto es imprescindibile un prólogo, breve, pero tampoco tanto.Como se deduce por el subtítulo, esta reflexión no se ocupa de la relación entre la utopía, mística y revolución desde un punto de vista general. Entre los tres conceptos – cada uno de los cuales ha sido tratado por una literatura infinita- los nexos siguen estando muy vinculados y en absoluto casuales. Dichos vínculos han sido estudiados muy ampliamente, remontándose a la historia de las ideas filosóficas, teológicas y políticas. Sin embargo, me voy a enfocar en nuestra época y en un momento muy peculiar y importante de la historia de Europa. Voy a examinar algunos aspectos de la relación entre la utopía, la mística y la revolución en la Alemania de los primeras dos décadas del siglo XX. Para esto es imprescindibile un prólogo, breve, pero tampoco tanto. (shrink)

The intricate and difficult relationship between Romanticism and Idealism played a pivotal role in the development of psychic investigation during the last century, particularly as far as all the questions of psychopathology are concerned. In this respect, the interplay between scientific research and philosophical reflection seems of particular relevance. After a sketch of some aspects of the neurological work of the leading German romantic physiologist K.F. Burdach, the paper develops some general considerations about the "psychic anthropology" of C.G. Carus and (...) ends with an appraisal of the attention devoted by Hegel to the problem of psychology as a science. (shrink)

This clear and well-documented monograph is dedicated to the development of the interweaving of science and philosophy in Germany from the years following the French Revolution to Hegel’s death. The role played by chemistry has long been recognized as central and many studies have delved into it; and the same holds for the primacy of the “biocentric” standpoint, which was originally sponsored by Goethe. However, Poggi’s book has a much wider scope. It gives space to almost the whole scope (...) of science in those decades in Germany. It begins by dealing with the philosophical foundations of scientific investigation, as were provided, among others, by Kant in his Metaphysical Foundations of the Science of Nature. Goethe’s introduction of the notions of “form” and “polarity” is the subject of the second chapter. Chapters 3 and 4 are dedicated to animal physiology, chapter 5 to physics and cosmology, and chapter 6 to Schelling’s arguments for proving the existence of the infinite in the finite by means of the notion of the world’s soul. With chapter 7 the investigation shifts to the individual sciences starting with mathematics, chapter 8 is dedicated to medicine, chapter 9 to chemistry, and chapter 10 to biology. Finally, the eleventh and last chapter considers neurophysiology and psychology. Only one discipline is missing, which is geology, and missing too is the discussion of two major issues such as alchemy and the connection of romantic science to literature. Poggi had to draw a line to avoid his research going out of proportion. (shrink)

While 'space' and 'place' appear as key concepts in the study of culture, their complexity and mutability require ever-new frameworks when approaching them critically. Including chapters by authors from different fields, career stages, and geopolitical backgrounds, the contributors in this edited collection scrutinize the changing dynamics of space and place in relation to current political, social, and environmental urgencies across the globe. With chapters investigating both real and imaginary spaces and places, the diversified discussions included in this collection provide a (...) cohesive study for disclosing latent understandings of multiple phenomena characterizing the world in which we live. From the protests in Egyptian and Turkish squares, to the power-related narratives embedded in institutional buildings, from the development of the commercial arena in Victorian and Edwardian London, to the effects of current environmental concerns on the evaluation of urban and rural locations, the volume ultimately serves as a progressive connection of fields, minds, and outlooks through an innovative, pluralistic vision. This interdisciplinary focus not only emphasizes the centrality of spaces and places when disentangling the complexities comprising our past and present, but also suggests a more pluralistic approach for exploring fundamental concepts in future spaces and places studies. (shrink)